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Speaker 1: This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised.

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Speaker 2: It's all of our greatest fear is that some terrible

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Speaker 2: act of violence takes away those we love or affects ourselves.

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Speaker 1: There was a spectacular cannonade at dawn in Brooklyn. Daybreak

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Speaker 1: in Manhattan brought fish, horns, fireworks, and drums. At seven o'clock,

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Speaker 1: the military units mustered for a huge parade on Broadway.

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Speaker 1: The belfry at Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan rang with

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Speaker 1: patriotic tunes like Red, White and Blue and Yankee Doodle.

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Speaker 1: New Yorkers filled their picnic baskets with iced tea, pot roast,

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Speaker 1: and sour dough rolls. This was New York City. It

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Speaker 1: was the fourth of July eighteen seventy. The city's corrupt

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Speaker 1: kingmaker was William boss Tweed. He presided over speeches inside

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Speaker 1: a massive red brick building called Tammany Hall in Union Square,

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Speaker 1: and just a few blocks away, Edward Rulolph stood up

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Speaker 1: from his desk. The academic shuffled around two rented rooms

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Speaker 1: above a dry goods store on Third Avenue in Irving Place.

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Speaker 1: It had been more than twenty five years since his

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Speaker 1: life was derailed a quarter of a century since he

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Speaker 1: killed his wife and child. He had served a decade

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Speaker 1: long sentence, only to be jailed once again before escaping,

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Speaker 1: being recaptured, and then finally walking away from Tompkins County. Legally,

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Speaker 1: he was a failed academic, though he still had hope

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Speaker 1: his manuscript would be finished in less than a year.

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Speaker 1: In eate wisdom had served Edward well into middle age,

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Speaker 1: but the past two decades had taught him a truly

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Speaker 1: vital lesson to remain discreet. Edward was infatuated with Manhattan.

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Speaker 1: He called it his true home. Historian Esther Crane says

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Speaker 1: that the city was able to offer Edward incredible opportunities.

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Speaker 3: I'm sure that the first thing that he realized is

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Speaker 3: that the city is growing, It's building. Pretty soon, it's

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Speaker 3: going to be a world class city, on par with

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Speaker 3: London and Paris. And I think that he senses this

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Speaker 3: great destiny for New York.

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Speaker 1: Gilded Age Manhattan was the perfect place for a charismatic

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Speaker 1: scholar hoping to reinvent his troubled life.

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Speaker 3: I think in New York at the time, if you

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Speaker 3: talked a good game and you had the right look,

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Speaker 3: people would trust you. People wanted to be with the

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Speaker 3: movers and shakers. If you appeared like a mover and shaker,

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Speaker 3: then people would gravitate towards you, even if you were

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Speaker 3: a complete fraud or perhaps killer.

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Speaker 1: Inside his apartment in Irving Place, Edward Roulolf could barely

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Speaker 1: hear the cacophony of cheers erupting from the streets below.

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Speaker 1: The fireworks had faded hours earlier. He rubbed his tired eyes,

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Speaker 1: He refused food, He shunned alcohol and tobacco, and he

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Speaker 1: wore little clothing. He actually preferred to write in the nude.

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Speaker 1: I'm assuming he liked feeling unrestricted. His partners Al Jarvis

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Speaker 1: and Billy Dexter left the apartment in the evening. They

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Speaker 1: returned the next morning with bags full of potatoes stolen

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Speaker 1: from the fields on the outskirts of Brooklyn. They filled

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Speaker 1: more bags with coal stolen from the yards of dealers.

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Speaker 1: In just a few days, Edward would turn fifty one,

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Speaker 1: but thanks to decades of intense study and chronic worry,

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Speaker 1: he just seemed so much older. He rarely took breaks

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Speaker 1: from writing, only short walks to libraries. Edward would later

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Speaker 1: tell journalist Hamilton Freeman, I seldom went out and never

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Speaker 1: took any recreation. It was constant study, study, and work.

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Speaker 1: I thought I saw the bottom of my labors and

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Speaker 1: the fruit of my genuine toil. Some mornings Edward's landlady

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Speaker 1: nudged him awake at his desk, just like his mother

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Speaker 1: had forty years earlier. He thumbed through his manuscript, the

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Speaker 1: same one that was rejected last year by those language

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Speaker 1: experts at the convention. They called him an arrogant quack,

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Speaker 1: But his theory was much more developed now. Edward wrote,

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Speaker 1: things which are opposite in meaning are named from the

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Speaker 1: same roots in which the elements are reversed. Take the

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Speaker 1: words stir and rest, for example, the meanings of which

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Speaker 1: are opposites. In stir, the root is composed of str.

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Speaker 1: In rest, these are reversed r st. Cornell University linguistics

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Speaker 1: professor Michael Weiss says Edward's theory was extensive, and it

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Speaker 1: would have intrigued any language expert in the eighteen hundreds.

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Speaker 4: If you were able to follow his logic and the

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Speaker 4: way things work, then you would understand that all languages

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Speaker 4: are in some sense constructed, and that would make the

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Speaker 4: study of language and the learning of language easier.

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Speaker 1: In some sense, and.

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Speaker 4: That would be valuable In the nineteenth century, it would

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Speaker 4: have been valuable.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Edward literally wept over his own brilliance, sobbing at

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Speaker 1: his desk. He was fixated on his theory, but he

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Speaker 1: still needed money to live In Manhattan. Jarvis and Dexter

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Speaker 1: were constantly being arrested for theft, and Edward always acted

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Speaker 1: as their attorney, using an alias. Again, of course, four

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Speaker 1: years earlier, robbers had stolen silk from a factory on

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Speaker 1: thirty fifth Street between eighth and ninth Avenues. They killed

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Speaker 1: a security guard by beating him to death. The robbers

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Speaker 1: clearly resembled Dexter and Jarvis, but there wasn't any definitive proof.

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Speaker 1: It must have been an uncertain life for two young

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Speaker 1: men anxious for wealth and hoping to please their mentor.

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Speaker 1: On that fourth of July night in eighteen seventy, Edward

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Speaker 1: Ruloff and al Jarvis were planning their next heist. They

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Speaker 1: would target a dry goods store the following month in Binghamton,

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Speaker 1: about fifty miles south of Ithaca. Edward was hoping to

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Speaker 1: sneak into the same countryside where he was suspected of

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Speaker 1: committing four murders in one family. It was a ludicrous plan,

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Speaker 1: almost certainly a death wish, But remember Edward was an

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Speaker 1: expert at becoming a new person. He felt confident that

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Speaker 1: he would never be recognized. The Scuts had spent the

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Speaker 1: past decade living in fear of Edward Ruloff. They thought

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Speaker 1: a man possessed by the devil would certainly seek revenge

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Speaker 1: on the people who had sent him to prison. Craig

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Speaker 1: Scutt says he understands their concern.

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Speaker 5: And he wasn't so far away from home. He could

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Speaker 5: have come up there and you know, taken out a

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Speaker 5: bunch of them if he really wanted to. He had

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Speaker 5: this ongoing hatred for the family.

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Speaker 1: A lot had happened to the Scuts since Edward left

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Speaker 1: for New York City in eighteen sixty. Some had married,

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Speaker 1: others had children, and the patriarch of the family, John Scott,

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Speaker 1: had died in eighteen sixty eight at the age of

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Speaker 1: eighty two. It was devastating for the family. He had

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Speaker 1: been beloved. Someone wrote a poem about his final days,

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Speaker 1: spent napping beneath a large tree on Brookfield Farm. It

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Speaker 1: said he is leaning back in his old rush chair

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Speaker 1: and when the light breeze tosses his snowy hair, his

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Speaker 1: toil worn hands crossed beneath his breast, and near him,

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Speaker 1: his old dog watches his rest. Kathy Chadwick says that

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Speaker 1: he was the guiding light of the family.

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Speaker 3: John Scott used to tell his children, you see, my DearS,

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Speaker 3: you are descended from the moon.

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Speaker 1: A local newspaper printed a long obituary. It said, mister

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Speaker 1: Scott was a man of far more than ordinary intellectual culture.

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Speaker 1: He possessed a good memory and studious habits. He was

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Speaker 1: well versed in the current news and of the literature

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Speaker 1: of the day. John Scott was a moral man with

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Speaker 1: good character, But he died fearing that Edward Ruloff would

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Speaker 1: never be punished for killing Amelia, Emil, Harriet and Priscilla.

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Speaker 1: If Edward had just been more like his father in law,

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Speaker 1: then his obituary might have sounded very similar. But Edward

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Speaker 1: Ruloff was destined for a very very different type of legacy.

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Speaker 1: When al Jarvis asked Edward to join him on their

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Speaker 1: big heist in Binghamton, Edwards should have said no. He

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Speaker 1: should have remembered his oath to stay discreet. Jarvis and

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Speaker 1: Dexter had already robbed silk merchants in that town several times,

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Speaker 1: but al insisted, and so the Fiend of the Finger Lakes,

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Speaker 1: as Edward was called, hopped on a train on the

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Speaker 1: Erie Railway. He was nervous about another visit to New

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Speaker 1: York's countryside. They bored holes into the wood, and the

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Speaker 1: bolts securing the door to the back of Halbert's brother's

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Speaker 1: dry goods store released easily. It was between one and

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Speaker 1: two o'clock in the morning on August seventeenth, eighteen seventy.

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Speaker 1: The Shenango River was to their backs. The three men

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Speaker 1: had spent hours casing the warehouse. Squatting nearby. There were

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Speaker 1: two clerks who spent each night inside the building guarding

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Speaker 1: its precious silk merchandise. They were certainly asleep by now. Edward, Jarvis,

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Speaker 1: and Dexter each pulled on face masks. Edward's long gray

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Speaker 1: beard peeked out through the bottom of his. They quietly

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Speaker 1: entered the back of the store and hid in the basement.

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Speaker 1: Edward looked up and spotted the clerks asleep in beds

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Speaker 1: at the front of the store. Up a flight of stairs.

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Speaker 1: He slipped off his patent leather, Oxford shoes. Dexter crept

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Speaker 1: up the stairs and pulled out a bottle of chloroform.

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Speaker 1: He put it near the mouths of the clerks and

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Speaker 1: they fell into a deeper sleep. Jarvis and Dexter silently

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Speaker 1: wrapped up two or three packages of silk, worth about

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Speaker 1: fifteen hundred dollars and left them at the back door.

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Speaker 1: The men were feeling bolder. They strolled around the building

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Speaker 1: collecting silks. Edward watched the clerk's sleep. One of them,

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Speaker 1: Frederick Merrick, was turning frequently. It made the old thief nervous.

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Speaker 1: Edward ordered Dexter to administer more chloroform, but it was

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Speaker 1: too late. Both men sat up. The five men stared

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Speaker 1: at each other, and it actually took a moment for

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Speaker 1: them to understand what was happening. Frederick Merrick sprang up,

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Speaker 1: yelling who who. He grabbed for his pistol, which was nearby.

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Speaker 1: He fired twice but missed. He then snatched a wooden

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Speaker 1: stool and threw it at the burglars. As they raced

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Speaker 1: down the stairs. The other clerk, Gilbert Burrows, grabbed the

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Speaker 1: smallest thief, Billy Dexter, and threw him to the ground.

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Speaker 1: He slammed an iron box opener against Dexter's eye, and

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Speaker 1: he screamed out in pain, begging for help. Burrows screamed

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Speaker 1: to Merek to come tie up Dexter, but when Merrek

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Speaker 1: reached the stairs, al Jarvis tried to overpower him. It

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Speaker 1: didn't work. Merreck fought back and forced the burglar backward.

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Speaker 1: Burrows ran over to help Marrek and stared at the

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Speaker 1: old man. Merreck reached out and yanked off his mask.

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Speaker 1: This was one of the most exciting stories that Edward

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Speaker 1: would share with Hamilton Freeman. He described being overpowered by

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Speaker 1: the clerks. Mereck acted like a perfect demon, said Edward.

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Speaker 1: He paid no regard to what I said, but kept

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Speaker 1: making a noise like a wild beast. Edward then imitated

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Speaker 1: the noise, kind of a grunting. Edwards somehow found the pistol.

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Speaker 1: He fired four times at the clerk, but missed. One

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Speaker 1: bullet hit the wooden banister, causing it to splinter. The

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Speaker 1: shard flew into Burrow's face and blood gushed from his cheek.

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Speaker 1: He screamed that he was Marrek looked up at Burrows

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Speaker 1: with shock. Then he felt something pressed against his neck.

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Speaker 1: Before he knew what happened. Frederick Merrick was gasping for breath.

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Speaker 1: Burrows stared at Edward Rouloff holding a pistol. Marrek's limp

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Speaker 1: body dropped to the ground, dead at just eighteen years old.

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Speaker 1: Binghamton historian Gerald Smith counts this as yet another tragedy

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Speaker 1: caused by Edward Ruloff.

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Speaker 6: They sleep near the store, they hear the ruckus. They're

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Speaker 6: just innocent bystanders will get caught up.

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Speaker 1: Edward told Dexter and Jarvis, come on, we've done enough.

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Speaker 1: They ran down the stairs and through the back door

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Speaker 1: toward the river just a few yards away. Both Dexter

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Speaker 1: and Jarvis were wounded. Burrows raced to the front of

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Speaker 1: the store. He flung open the doors and cried murder

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Speaker 1: so loudly that all of Binghamton heard. Edward panicked and

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Speaker 1: he dragged the young men toward the water. The only

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Speaker 1: thing they could do was swim. Burrows cries awoke the

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Speaker 1: chief of police, who just happened to be sleeping in

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Speaker 1: a hotel across the street from the store. The fire

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Speaker 1: bells blared, signaling an emergency. All five police officers in

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Speaker 1: the town reported to the front of the store in

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Speaker 1: the darkness of the countryside. The three robbers approached the river.

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Speaker 1: Dexter took several steps back. He was petrified. He couldn't swim,

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Speaker 1: he told the other men, and his eye was swollen

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Speaker 1: and bleeding. There was so much blood that he just

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Speaker 1: couldn't see. But al Jarvis insisted that this section of

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Speaker 1: the river was just a few inches deep. He could

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Speaker 1: walk across. They could hear footsteps and yelling. The police

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Speaker 1: were running toward the rear of the store, and they

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Speaker 1: really had no choice. All three waded into the river.

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Speaker 1: The water immediate. We pulled them under. Al Jarvis was wrong.

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Speaker 1: It was over their heads. Billy Dexter began to sink.

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Speaker 1: Edward described his death to Hamilton Freeman. He clutched hold

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Speaker 1: of me and come near, taking me down with him.

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Speaker 1: He sank at once, and I do not think he

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Speaker 1: came up again. Jarvis screamed for help, and Edward responded.

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Speaker 1: He swam toward him, but his protege sank just feet away.

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Speaker 1: He made a gurgling sound, and that was it. Hamilton

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Speaker 1: later reported that Edward cried like a child and rocked

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Speaker 1: back and forth. I loved that boy more than any

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Speaker 1: other human being on the face of the earth, Edward said,

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Speaker 1: And to see him die right before my face in

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Speaker 1: such a manner, and I was unable to save him.

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Speaker 1: My God, it was too bad. Those hysterics were likely

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Speaker 1: an act, just another way to seduce Hamilton Freeman for

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Speaker 1: a favor. Later on, historian Gerald Smith doesn't believe one

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Speaker 1: word of Edward's version of the river crossing.

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Speaker 6: Why did day suddenly drown? And he didn't I can

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Speaker 6: get away because it's now I'd be traveling by myself

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Speaker 6: a set of three threes too many. He's ruthless enough

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Speaker 6: to know that, don't leave any witnesses.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I might agree with him. Edward reached the shore

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Speaker 1: on the other side of the river. He heard a

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Speaker 1: bell begin to strike, another fire alarm. Someone screamed for

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Speaker 1: a doctor. A surgeon was trying to save Frederick Merrick's

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00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,960
Speaker 1: life on the floor of the store. As more alarms blared,

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Speaker 1: Edward stumbled through a yard, searching for a tree where

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Speaker 1: he had hidden the burglars tools. Edward was a mess,

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00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,440
Speaker 1: soaked clothes and matted black and gray hair, and he

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Speaker 1: was missing his shoes. He had taken them off to

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00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:02,520
Speaker 1: sneak around the warehouse in silence. Several people passed by

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Speaker 1: Edward and asked about the location of the fire at

247
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Speaker 1: Halbert's store. He feebly replied, no one suspected he was involved.

248
00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:14,240
Speaker 1: He must have just seemed like a harmless old man.

249
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Speaker 1: Little did they know. Edward ran into the woods, found

250
00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:25,080
Speaker 1: an abandoned house, and sat there waiting for what He

251
00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:29,600
Speaker 1: wasn't sure his luck was waning. Even he had to

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Speaker 1: admit that he might not escape the hangman's news this time,

253
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Speaker 1: and he was certain that if they only knew what

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Speaker 1: he had done, those townspeople would have killed him, and

255
00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,199
Speaker 1: he was right. Gerald Smith explains why the murder of

256
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Speaker 1: a store clerk was so shocking in Binghamton in eighteen seventy.

257
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Speaker 6: It's not that we hadn't had murders here, but not

258
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Speaker 6: a murder like that. The murders that had taken place

259
00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:58,680
Speaker 6: were the acts of passion. The husband kills his wife

260
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Speaker 6: because she's stepping up out at him. You know, it's

261
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,360
Speaker 6: just a fever pitch, and it's they're isolated.

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00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:09,560
Speaker 1: The next morning, all of Binghamton knew about the botched

263
00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,359
Speaker 1: robbery and the death of the young man Frederick Merrick.

264
00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,480
Speaker 1: Just about the entire town began to search for his killers.

265
00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,480
Speaker 1: The surviving clerk, Gilbert Burrows, had given the sheriff detailed

266
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Speaker 1: descriptions of the three robbers, and investigators had a curious clue.

267
00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:30,040
Speaker 1: One of the killers left behind a pair of leather shoes,

268
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Speaker 1: and one of them was a bit unusual. Early that Friday,

269
00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,760
Speaker 1: several men gathered on the bank of the river. They

270
00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:45,840
Speaker 1: squinted in the sunlight at two large objects lodged against

271
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Speaker 1: the piers of the Court Street bridge. They sent for

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00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,080
Speaker 1: a rowboat and a fisherman. The man cast out his

273
00:18:52,200 --> 00:19:01,840
Speaker 1: line and snared something horrible dead. He yelled, and he

274
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:06,560
Speaker 1: soon hooked the second corpse. Al Jarvis and William Dexter

275
00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,120
Speaker 1: were reunited that day on the bank of the river.

276
00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:13,359
Speaker 1: One had lost an eye thanks to the fisherman's hook.

277
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:17,960
Speaker 1: A photographer snapped photos of the men laying side by

278
00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:23,040
Speaker 1: side on wooden planks. Their clothes were disheveled, their faces

279
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,560
Speaker 1: were pale and bloated. The surviving clerk stared at the

280
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Speaker 1: smaller corpse. He recognized Billy Dexter, whose eyes still had

281
00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,960
Speaker 1: a gash above it from the fight. The sheriff's deputies

282
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,800
Speaker 1: peered down. They had caught two of the three burglars.

283
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,159
Speaker 1: By this time, a crowd of nearly two hundred people

284
00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,399
Speaker 1: had gathered on the shore. The townspeople began a volley

285
00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:52,359
Speaker 1: of cheers as the bodies were searched. New York City

286
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,119
Speaker 1: reporters scoffed at the ghastly scene as townspeople leered at

287
00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:03,119
Speaker 1: the bodies. It was disgusting. One journalist wrote, Nearly every citizen, woman, schoolboy,

288
00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:09,239
Speaker 1: little girl, and small dog marched by the remains a

289
00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:11,840
Speaker 1: young man, a local reporter, stood near the rest of

290
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,560
Speaker 1: the press. He scribbled notes on his pad. He introduced

291
00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:19,280
Speaker 1: himself to the deputy as Hamilton Freeman, the publisher of

292
00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:23,040
Speaker 1: the newspaper, the Democratic Leader. Ham had not yet set

293
00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:25,960
Speaker 1: down with the infamous Edward Ruloff to pen his life

294
00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:29,960
Speaker 1: story that was still a few months away. For now,

295
00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,199
Speaker 1: Hamilton Freeman was standing on the river bank, following a

296
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:38,040
Speaker 1: sensational story in his hometown. He silently watched the officers

297
00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:43,760
Speaker 1: search Dexter and Jarvis. They turned out their pockets, and

298
00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,160
Speaker 1: when the contents spilled out, just about everyone was puzzled.

299
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,359
Speaker 1: Laying on the ground was a glazier diamond used to

300
00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:55,320
Speaker 1: cut glass. A metal bit used for boring holes and

301
00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:59,359
Speaker 1: snippets of poetry. One of the men also carried a

302
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:03,520
Speaker 1: nautical journal and a copy of a popular fortune telling book,

303
00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:11,320
Speaker 1: It's a Little Ironic. The New York Times began publishing

304
00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:14,680
Speaker 1: stories about the mystery for the next few months, as

305
00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:18,800
Speaker 1: did newspapers around the country. Gilbert Burrows insisted that there

306
00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,000
Speaker 1: was a third suspect, a man who made it across

307
00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:28,280
Speaker 1: the river alive. Details emerged about Merrick's death inside the store.

308
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:32,879
Speaker 1: Investigators described how the clerks blood and brains were splattered

309
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,640
Speaker 1: across elegant reams of costly silk, and now a third

310
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,920
Speaker 1: killer was missing, and probably not far from Ringhamton.

311
00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:43,520
Speaker 6: It was a sensational murderer with a sensational murderer.

312
00:21:44,000 --> 00:22:11,120
Speaker 1: The entire town armed itself and waited. Binghamton farmer Chauncey

313
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:15,960
Speaker 1: Livingstone loathed thieves. They were always poking around his orchard

314
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,560
Speaker 1: at night, hoping to swipe an apple. So Livingstone had

315
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,680
Speaker 1: taken to sitting on his front porch late into the evening,

316
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,840
Speaker 1: holding a pipe in one hand and a pistol in

317
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,080
Speaker 1: the other. This was the second night of the search

318
00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:33,320
Speaker 1: for the third burglar, and Livingstone sat and smoked while

319
00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:35,840
Speaker 1: he stared at his outhouse just on the other side

320
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,480
Speaker 1: of his yard. The door was open and there was

321
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:43,199
Speaker 1: a shadow cast by the light of the moon. It

322
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 1: seemed too dark to the farmer. He slowly walked over,

323
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:53,280
Speaker 1: cocked his pistol, and stepped inside the outhouse. He found

324
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:57,080
Speaker 1: an older man crouched in the corner, holding his breath

325
00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:02,119
Speaker 1: to stay silent. It was probably the least dignified hiding

326
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 1: place that any academic could have chosen. Edward Ruloff stood up,

327
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:14,399
Speaker 1: raised his hands and calmly introduced himself. I'm Charles Augustus.

328
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,639
Speaker 1: Remember there were no national ID cards, no way to

329
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,600
Speaker 1: really know who he was, but Livingstone didn't really care.

330
00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:31,239
Speaker 1: He quickly turned the man over to the sheriff, and

331
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:35,640
Speaker 1: at the Binghamton jail, Edward offered several more aliases while

332
00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,639
Speaker 1: denying any involvement in the murder. Deputies were interviewing a

333
00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,400
Speaker 1: host of other ne'er Dowells, and of course they all

334
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,800
Speaker 1: wanted to blame someone else for Frederick Merrick's death. The

335
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 1: sheriff took Edward by the arm and led him down

336
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:53,240
Speaker 1: to the basement of the courthouse. He pushed the suspect

337
00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,400
Speaker 1: toward two bodies on the ground, a pair of bloated,

338
00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:01,240
Speaker 1: mangled men. Edward stared down at Billy Dex'is and Al Jarvis.

339
00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,600
Speaker 1: There lay the only two people that had stayed by

340
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,160
Speaker 1: his side for more than a decade, through poverty and prison.

341
00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,639
Speaker 1: The young men had pledged loyalty to him, however misguided

342
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:17,399
Speaker 1: it was at the time. Edward stood at their feet.

343
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,720
Speaker 1: As the sheriff asked if he had ever seen them before,

344
00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:24,640
Speaker 1: he paused, this was his chance to give these bodies

345
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:31,160
Speaker 1: real names, to do the moral thing. No, he firmly replied.

346
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:34,959
Speaker 1: He asked to see their bodies from a different angle

347
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:39,639
Speaker 1: and looked from the top of their heads down. No,

348
00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:46,600
Speaker 1: he showed no nerves, just unshakable confidence. Now the sheriff

349
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,480
Speaker 1: worried if he could hold any of the suspects without

350
00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:53,959
Speaker 1: more evidence. Prosecutors quickly convened a grand jury to indict

351
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:59,200
Speaker 1: each suspect. Before the panel of jurors, Edward once again

352
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 1: used an alien and feigned innocence, and honestly, he wasn't

353
00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,080
Speaker 1: any more suspicious than any of the other suspects were.

354
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,760
Speaker 1: Edward smiled he would walk out of a courthouse a

355
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,960
Speaker 1: free man once again, but then he heard a voice,

356
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 1: a very familiar voice. You are Edward H. Ruloff. Edward

357
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,280
Speaker 1: swung around to see an older man with wide eyes.

358
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,920
Speaker 1: He was pointing his finger and becoming more excited. Edward

359
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,720
Speaker 1: shook his head. The prosecutor looked to Edward and then

360
00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:38,000
Speaker 1: back to the alarmed man. You murdered your wife and

361
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:43,879
Speaker 1: child in Lancing in eighteen forty five. Edward might have

362
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,720
Speaker 1: denied at all, but there was a problem. The man

363
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 1: yelling at him was a judge from Ithaca. In fact,

364
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,400
Speaker 1: he was one of the three judges who had decided

365
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:56,879
Speaker 1: that there was not enough evidence to try Edward for

366
00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:02,119
Speaker 1: the murder of his wife twelve years earlier, Ransom Balcolm.

367
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,879
Speaker 1: By now, the judge was frantic. He knew what Edward

368
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:09,160
Speaker 1: was capable of doing in a courtroom. Judge Balcolm warned

369
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,600
Speaker 1: the jury, this man understands his rights better than you

370
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:17,399
Speaker 1: do and will defend them to the last. Edward glared

371
00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:21,399
Speaker 1: at Balcolm and undaunted admitted to the jury that he was,

372
00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:25,200
Speaker 1: in fact Edward Bruloff. But he had an excellent reason

373
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:29,879
Speaker 1: for lying, He told a panel, knowing my misfortunes in

374
00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,760
Speaker 1: this portion of New York, you can understand why I

375
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,360
Speaker 1: was anxious being here accidentally when a murder was committed.

376
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,840
Speaker 1: He denied killing the clerk. He was simply in the

377
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:45,280
Speaker 1: wrong place at the wrong time. Edward even apologized for

378
00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:52,520
Speaker 1: wasting the court's time. The jury believed Edward, and so

379
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:58,360
Speaker 1: did the prosecutor. Judge Balcolm was incensed. Edward Bruloff was released.

380
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,879
Speaker 1: He smiled yet again. He had squirmed out of a

381
00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,679
Speaker 1: murder trial that might have ended with his neck and

382
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:10,840
Speaker 1: a noose. He had saved himself again. Edward began to

383
00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 1: walk out of town quickly, but just after he left,

384
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:27,960
Speaker 1: there was another remarkable coincidence. Someone remembered a strange fact

385
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,800
Speaker 1: about Edward Rulolph. He was missing the big toe on

386
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,760
Speaker 1: his left foot thanks to frostbite from when he was

387
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:39,119
Speaker 1: on the run in Pennsylvania. A very unexpected detail that

388
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:44,560
Speaker 1: was very very important. Those funny patent leather Oxford shoes

389
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:49,159
Speaker 1: found in Halbert's store still needed an owner. Why was

390
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,560
Speaker 1: there a rag shoved inside one of them? Perhaps he

391
00:27:53,720 --> 00:28:00,480
Speaker 1: was the owner, Perhaps he was the killer. He went

392
00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:03,520
Speaker 1: in search of Edward and he was captured just east

393
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 1: of the town. The sheriff shoved him into his cell

394
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:12,280
Speaker 1: and forced him to put on both shoes. Of course

395
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:19,320
Speaker 1: they fit perfectly. Binghamton was aghast Edward Ruloff, the vile murderer,

396
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,719
Speaker 1: had crept into their town at night and killed again.

397
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,760
Speaker 6: I think it was the tone of the murder. Suddenly

398
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,600
Speaker 6: here's a murder and a robbery. And this guy who

399
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,840
Speaker 6: had been accused of murdering his wife and if daughter

400
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:36,480
Speaker 6: and dubbing their bodies in k Ugah Lake. He'd been

401
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:40,120
Speaker 6: in several prisons, He'd passed himself off on their various aliases.

402
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:45,600
Speaker 6: God knows how many robberies between Pennsylvania, New York and elsewhere.

403
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,000
Speaker 1: Now the DA had a case, though a weak one,

404
00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,400
Speaker 1: just like in Edward's previous trial. By now, word had

405
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:56,760
Speaker 1: traveled to the Scots farm about Edward's arrest, and by

406
00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:00,280
Speaker 1: the time they arrived in Binghamton they were elated, says

407
00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:01,120
Speaker 1: Grig Scutt.

408
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,320
Speaker 5: Finally, when he got arrested in Binghamton and they found

409
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,560
Speaker 5: out about that, they were very happy. I'm sure they

410
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,280
Speaker 5: felt like we finally got him, We're going to do this.

411
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,600
Speaker 1: Edward was calm and composed throughout his pretrial hearing in August,

412
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: with just one exception. As he sat on the stand

413
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 1: answering basic questions, the prosecutor pointed to his former mother

414
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,880
Speaker 1: in law, Hannah Scutt. She was in her seventies now

415
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:33,920
Speaker 1: and she hadn't seen him in almost fifteen years. The

416
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:38,640
Speaker 1: prosecutor asked if Edward recognized Hannah. He squinted and said

417
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 1: he wasn't sure because she was sitting too far away.

418
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:45,280
Speaker 1: The DA offered Hannah his arm and they walked over

419
00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:49,080
Speaker 1: to the stand. She stood in front of Edward and stared.

420
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 1: He squirmed and avoided her gaze. His face went flush

421
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,240
Speaker 1: and his breathing was labored and loud. He was having

422
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:02,160
Speaker 1: a panic attack. If I am not mistaken, he said,

423
00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:06,520
Speaker 1: it is missus Scutt. She glared at him and returned

424
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 1: to her seat in the galley. He shifted in the

425
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,680
Speaker 1: chair and looked down. It was the only emotion he

426
00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:16,680
Speaker 1: had shown during the entire trial, and it was enough

427
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:20,160
Speaker 1: to convince the family and the jurors of Edward's guilt.

428
00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:24,280
Speaker 1: The police were tasked with connecting the two men to

429
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:28,240
Speaker 1: their new suspect, so the prosecutor called the NYPD for help.

430
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,040
Speaker 1: The small town district attorney traveled from Binghamton to Manhattan

431
00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:38,640
Speaker 1: to meet an eager, young detective named Philip Riley. The

432
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,160
Speaker 1: detectives studied the contents of the pockets of Dexter and Jarvis.

433
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,320
Speaker 1: There were scraps of paper with names, keys, and other

434
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:51,400
Speaker 1: bits of information. Detective Riley spent days tracing Edward's life

435
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,240
Speaker 1: through New York. He followed his trail meticulously. He met

436
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:58,600
Speaker 1: some of his other accomplices, including the irishwoman who fenced

437
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,920
Speaker 1: their stolen silks, and when he finally located the apartment

438
00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:06,800
Speaker 1: on Third Avenue, he uncovered evidence of the criminal conspiracy

439
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,240
Speaker 1: between Edward, Jarvis, and Dexter. It was everything the DA

440
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:17,120
Speaker 1: needed to charge Edward with murder. The link between Edward

441
00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:19,440
Speaker 1: Ruloff and the pair of bodies in the river was

442
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,760
Speaker 1: now solidified, and while the scuts were relieved, he was

443
00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,400
Speaker 1: finally in prison after twenty five years. They were also

444
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 1: furious Edwards should have been hanged for Harriet and Priscilla's

445
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:32,680
Speaker 1: murders decades earlier.

446
00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,360
Speaker 6: They would tell each other, he's trouble, watch him, he's

447
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:39,040
Speaker 6: not well. It's almost like PTSD for the entire community.

448
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:41,680
Speaker 1: They didn't hang him, and he went on.

449
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:43,120
Speaker 6: To kill someone else.

450
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:43,480
Speaker 3: Yes.

451
00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:51,880
Speaker 1: Christmas Day was glorious for much of New York City.

452
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,160
Speaker 1: At midnight, the bells of the Old Trinity Church in

453
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:59,560
Speaker 1: Lower Manhattan exalted the full rich chimes in a joyous peal.

454
00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,760
Speaker 1: The sweet tones echoed throughout the dark and otherwise silent

455
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:11,720
Speaker 1: streets of the city's immigrant community. New Yorkers packed outdoor

456
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:15,120
Speaker 1: markets down on Fulton in Lower Manhattan and Washington Square

457
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,280
Speaker 1: on the West Side. Patrons elbowed each other to buy

458
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:25,640
Speaker 1: freshly killed deer, rabbit, poultry, and fish. It was a

459
00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,000
Speaker 1: merry season for so many New Yorkers, but not for

460
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 1: Edward Ruloff. He spent the day sitting in the Binghamton jail,

461
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 1: though strangely, he was doing exactly what he would be

462
00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:40,800
Speaker 1: doing as a freeman, writing. Edward's murder trial was set

463
00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:44,560
Speaker 1: for January of eighteen seventy one. The date was quickly approaching,

464
00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:48,600
Speaker 1: and instead of plotting his defense, he frantically wrote notes

465
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:52,520
Speaker 1: on his theory. The people of Tompkins County, particularly the Scuts,

466
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,960
Speaker 1: felt a bit more at ease this Christmas. They took

467
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,400
Speaker 1: comfort knowing that Edward was locked up, but there was

468
00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:03,160
Speaker 1: still that at nagging fear that once again he would

469
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:07,960
Speaker 1: escape justice. Harriet's mother, Hannah Scutt, had died just a

470
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,960
Speaker 1: few weeks after she confronted Edward in court. Clearly she

471
00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:15,400
Speaker 1: had shaken him, but the emotional trial it was just

472
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 1: too much for her fragile health. She died without seeing

473
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,440
Speaker 1: her son in law hanged for killing four members of

474
00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:29,360
Speaker 1: her family. By January of eighteen seventy one, Edward had

475
00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:34,280
Speaker 1: reached international status. Newspapers around the world simply titled their

476
00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:38,440
Speaker 1: front page stories the Ruloff Trial. No first name was needed.

477
00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:43,120
Speaker 1: He was the brilliant killer who thwarted justice three times?

478
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:47,920
Speaker 1: Would there be a fourth? Readers wondered each day of

479
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:51,280
Speaker 1: the trial. The courthouse in Binghamton was ringed with buggies

480
00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,120
Speaker 1: and crowded with people all angling to look at the

481
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:58,640
Speaker 1: aged savant. His younger brothers provided ample funds for a

482
00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:02,960
Speaker 1: well known defense attorney, George Becker, begged Edward to let

483
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:06,720
Speaker 1: him handle the questioning, but the accused was dismayed as

484
00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,760
Speaker 1: he listened to the evidence and anyway, he rarely took advice,

485
00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:16,520
Speaker 1: especially good advice, So Edward demanded to question the first witness,

486
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:21,080
Speaker 1: the surviving clerk, Gilbert Burrows. He tried to test Burrow's

487
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,680
Speaker 1: memory of that night and the identity of the man

488
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:27,319
Speaker 1: who shot Frederick Merrick, and by this time the dead

489
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:29,759
Speaker 1: clerk had been painted as a martyr in the New

490
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:33,720
Speaker 1: York City press. I saw him square in the face

491
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,399
Speaker 1: when he went downstairs after he shot Marek and come

492
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:43,200
Speaker 1: towards me, insisted Burrows, by good light. Edward asked, you

493
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,040
Speaker 1: know what the light was, replied Burrows with a sneer.

494
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:51,000
Speaker 1: The courtroom erupted with applause, a general uproar that was

495
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:55,200
Speaker 1: quickly stopped by the judge. Edward ignored the outburst and

496
00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:59,359
Speaker 1: showed little emotion throughout the trial until a key piece

497
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:04,240
Speaker 1: of evidence was submitted, his manuscript. Witnesses in court reported

498
00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:08,439
Speaker 1: that he held it with unusual emotion. One person said

499
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,720
Speaker 1: that he seemed to almost fondle it like a great treasure.

500
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:17,719
Speaker 1: Edward looked up at the judge. He said, there is

501
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:21,200
Speaker 1: the proof, your honor, that my occupation does not send

502
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,960
Speaker 1: me around the country breaking open stores. There is a

503
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,440
Speaker 1: book that five hundred men in ten years cannot produce.

504
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:33,600
Speaker 1: The manuscript was his alibi. Every second of his day

505
00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:36,560
Speaker 1: was devoted to it, he said, and there was literally

506
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 1: no time left for him to rob it. Was an

507
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:44,160
Speaker 1: interesting defense, one befitting a man obsessed with his own ideas.

508
00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,520
Speaker 1: As the DA's evidence came spilling out, it became clear

509
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:51,440
Speaker 1: to Edward's defense team that they needed to switch strategies.

510
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 1: They began to argue self defense, that Frederick Merrick was

511
00:35:55,200 --> 00:36:01,399
Speaker 1: viciously attacking Al Jarvis, so Edward had to defend his friend.

512
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:07,480
Speaker 1: The jury took hours debating behind a locked door. Townspeople

513
00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,520
Speaker 1: feared that Edward would escape a death sentence by being

514
00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,840
Speaker 1: convicted of a lesser charge, just like what happened in

515
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,520
Speaker 1: the trial of his wife's murder. Edward might even escape

516
00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:20,760
Speaker 1: without jail time, and that was a thought that frightened

517
00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:24,760
Speaker 1: just about everyone in upstate New York. Rumors spread across

518
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:28,720
Speaker 1: Binghamton that a lynch mob was forming. William Scott boasted

519
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:31,359
Speaker 1: that he was prepared to unleash a group of two

520
00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:33,880
Speaker 1: hundred men on the jail where Edward was being held.

521
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:38,000
Speaker 1: The minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Binghamton advocated

522
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:43,080
Speaker 1: for vengeance if secular justice didn't prevail. Historian HW Brands

523
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:46,319
Speaker 1: says that often religious leaders had a bigger impact on

524
00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,120
Speaker 1: the views of a community than political leaders did.

525
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,120
Speaker 7: That part of Upstate New York, and especially parts even

526
00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:57,880
Speaker 7: farther west, were famous or notorious for the religious revivals

527
00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:00,520
Speaker 7: that swept through New York, sometimes called the burnt Over

528
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:04,359
Speaker 7: District because religious passion would burn over this place time

529
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:05,040
Speaker 7: after time.

530
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:20,480
Speaker 1: Finally, after five hours, the jurors reached a verdict, guilty

531
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 1: of first degree murder and sentenced to hang in march.

532
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:28,279
Speaker 1: Edward sat back in his chair for a moment out

533
00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 1: of exhaustion, but soon afterward he marched back to his cell.

534
00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:37,000
Speaker 1: He lit his gas lamb, opened his manuscript and began

535
00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:43,960
Speaker 1: to write. He now had just two months to finish it. Meanwhile,

536
00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:47,080
Speaker 1: Edward could hear the men building the gallows just outside

537
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:52,960
Speaker 1: his cell. They were preparing for a massive crowd.

538
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:56,200
Speaker 6: They built a fence around the gallows so the masses

539
00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:59,880
Speaker 6: couldn't see. Maybe they were joyous because they knew the

540
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:01,360
Speaker 6: I was going to be killed. He was going to

541
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:05,120
Speaker 6: be executed. They are bringing justice into their community now.

542
00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,440
Speaker 1: The newspapers were full of stories of Ruloff the murderer,

543
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:13,000
Speaker 1: a monster of unequaled monstrosity, wrote one paper. He'd been

544
00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:16,480
Speaker 1: convicted of just one murder, but Edward's reputation was that

545
00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:20,120
Speaker 1: of a modern day serial killer. Though there were no bodies.

546
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,479
Speaker 1: The townspeople gossiped about the deaths of his wife and daughter.

547
00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:27,160
Speaker 1: Surely he poisoned his sister in law and her newborn.

548
00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:32,440
Speaker 1: Though there was no definitive proof, reporters speculated that Edward

549
00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:35,120
Speaker 1: deliberately drowned Dexter and Jarvis.

550
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:38,239
Speaker 6: He never would talk to anybody while he was in

551
00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:40,480
Speaker 6: the jail. You know, the newspapers would try to go

552
00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:42,799
Speaker 6: and get an interview. I guess they basically got one.

553
00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:47,520
Speaker 1: There was one journalist that had earned Edward's trust, his

554
00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:51,840
Speaker 1: only confidante. As he awaited execution in January of eighteen

555
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:55,880
Speaker 1: seventy one, Edwards shook Hamilton Freeman's hand for the first

556
00:38:55,920 --> 00:39:01,520
Speaker 1: time inside the Binghamton jail. That's when their relationship almost

557
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:06,080
Speaker 1: thirty years after he murdered his wife. Ham took notes

558
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,680
Speaker 1: as Edward sat with him, retelling his life story. Starting

559
00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:14,360
Speaker 1: just one day after his conviction. The reporter felt uneasy.

560
00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:19,919
Speaker 1: Ham heard chanting outside of the jail cell. Crucify him,

561
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:21,320
Speaker 1: Crucify him.

562
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:27,800
Speaker 6: This is Moses on the mount and the sea splitting,

563
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:32,880
Speaker 6: and God is powerful and will bring justice down upon you.

564
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:37,680
Speaker 1: But Edward Rulolph had one last clever trick, a final

565
00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:42,120
Speaker 1: chance to escape the gallows. His brain would save his life,

566
00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:46,279
Speaker 1: and it would also prove just how valuable he really was.

567
00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:58,160
Speaker 1: But first he needed Hamilton Freeman's help. On the final

568
00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 1: episode of this season of tenfold More Wicked.

569
00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:07,360
Speaker 2: There can be something very seductive about neurobiological information in

570
00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:13,400
Speaker 2: the courtroom juries. Looking for a simple understanding of terrible

571
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:15,480
Speaker 2: behaviors can be very drawn into that.

572
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:20,400
Speaker 8: Families of the people who suffered deaths at the hands

573
00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:24,359
Speaker 8: of this sky have every right to be outraged. Just

574
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:29,480
Speaker 8: because somebody is intelligent or even brilliant doesn't mean that

575
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,799
Speaker 8: we should excuse their conduct.

576
00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:33,120
Speaker 6: That's it.

577
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:36,719
Speaker 5: What does it say, wife of Wilamscoop?

578
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,680
Speaker 1: So that's the gravestone. If you love historical true crime,

579
00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:44,960
Speaker 1: be sure to order my book, American Sherlock. It's about

580
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:47,560
Speaker 1: a real life Sherlock Holmes who solved some of the

581
00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:50,879
Speaker 1: most gruesome murders in the nineteen twenties. This has been

582
00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:54,960
Speaker 1: an exactly right and tenfold more media production producers Jason

583
00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:59,880
Speaker 1: Whaling and Laura Sobole. Sound designer Eric Friend, composer Curtis Heath,

584
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:05,360
Speaker 1: artwork Nick Toga. Executive producers Georgia Hardstark, Karen Kilgarriff and

585
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:09,800
Speaker 1: Danielle Kramer. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at tenfold

586
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,319
Speaker 1: more Wicked and on Twitter at tenfold more and if

587
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:15,840
Speaker 1: you know of a historical crime that could use some attention,

588
00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:23,040
Speaker 1: email us at info at tenfoldmoorwicked dot com. So please listen, subscribe,

589
00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:26,880
Speaker 1: leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever

590
00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:28,120
Speaker 1: you get your podcasts